Standing by an open window, a young lady is engrossed in reading a letter. On a table in the foreground, a bowl of fruit seems to have been toppled, spilling some of its contents onto a colorful and richly woven “rug.” Perhaps, the lady toppled the bowl in her haste to read the letter she grips so tightly.  Or, as likely, Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who created the picture “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window,” painted the rug and fruit bowl to draw us into the painting. He also guides us into the painting with the green velvet curtain to the right of the picture frame. The green, in turn, complements the lady’s green dress. Besides the pops of red and green, the overall painting is muted. The vast background gives us an overall sense of the lady’s solitude, and further emphasizes her paying close attention to the letter’s contents. …